NDE/OBE

[Kaere]

Near-death, out-of-body experiences rare but possible, study finds... I guess sometimes it takes science awhile to find the evidence

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/health-headlines/near-death-out-of-body-experiences-rare-but-possible-study-finds-1.2046798#ixzz3FfLsawxs

Is it possible to be aware of what's happening to you even after you've become clinically dead?

Those who reported out-of-body experiences after their hearts stopped have long been dismissed by skeptics. But a new study suggests there may be something to those reports.

Scientists at the University of Southampton in England spent four years tracking and interviewing 101 survivors of cardiac arrest, whose hearts had completely stopped while they were in hospital. Some of the interviews were conducted while the survivors were still recovering; others took place shortly after they were discharged. The majority were men and their average age was 67.

The researchers found that nearly 40 per cent of the survivors could remember something from the time their hearts were stopped and they were being revived, but most couldn't recall any explicit details.

Nine per cent described experiences that could be called "near-death experiences," meaning they had memories and emotions such as fear during the event, but couldn't recall specific things they saw or heard.

Two reported full awareness compatible with an out-of-body experience. They included a 57-year-old man who went into cardiac arrest for three minutes and described feeling like he could see what was happening to him from the top corner of the room.

"He accurately described people, sounds and activities from his resuscitation. His medical records corroborated his account and specifically supported his descriptions and the use of an automated defibrillator," the study authors write in the journal Resuscitation.

The fact that the man's account matched the medical records is significant, says lead author Dr. Sam Parnia, the director of resuscitation research at The State University of New York (SUNY). That's because it is often assumed that such experiences are hallucinations that must have occurred before the heart stopped or after the heart began beating again.

"In this case, consciousness and awareness appeared to occur during a three-minute period when there was no heartbeat," he said in a statement. "This is paradoxical, since the brain typically ceases functioning within 20-30 seconds of the heart stopping and doesn’t resume again until the heart has been restarted."

Parnia's team says that the frequency of near-death experiences they found was consistent with prior studies, but "the relatively high proportion of patients who perceived having memories and awareness was unexpected."

Having visual memories of a near-death event could explain why some cardiac arrest survivors develop post-traumatic stress disorder, and that possibility deserves more study, they said.

While it was not possible with this study to prove the reality of patients’ claims of awareness since only two subjects had explicit memories of visual awareness, it was also impossible to disclaim them, the authors said.

"Clearly, the recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine investigation without prejudice," they said.

[Stirky]

I've had a NDE and a OBE, both totally different things caused by different circumstances.

[Kaere]

Yes, I know they're different... I suppose I shouldn't have used the slash symbol. I thought the article was interesting in that the experiences are looking to be provable instead of being considered simply fanciful imagination.

[Mordae]

Interesting article here

Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress.

Then, Dr. Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion–and in essence makes us human–shut down completely. For seven days he lay in a coma. Then, as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back.

Alexander’s recovery is a medical miracle. But the real miracle of his story lies elsewhere. While his body lay in coma, Alexander journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. There he met, and spoke with, the Divine source of the universe itself.

Alexander’s story is not a fantasy. Before he underwent his journey, he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. Today Alexander is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition...

[Stirky]

Very interesting Mords, I think a lot of people that world in science fields have no belief in an existence of a divine force and souls. But it is nice to see one of them faced with proof and the truth

[Rogue]

You would feel so settled about your eventual death after an experience like that.

[Stirky]

Syncy as today there was an interview with Dr. Eben Alexander on one of our daytime TV shows. To be honest he waffled and was not making a lot of sense, the interviewers had to keep butting in. I was disappointed as was looking forward to hear what he had to say, apparently he has written two books about it. I bet they are hard work!!! But the point he had a very long winded way of putting, was interesting.

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